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E-scooter or hoverboard

Also called hoverboard, e-scooter, balance board.

Hub motors, a dual controller, and a lithium pack that must be treated as a fire until it has been tested. Hoverboard packs are a known cause of scrap-lithium fires.

A donor is the dead machine. The parts below are what is still worth removing from it. “Leave it” is a part that is physically in there and should stay in there: too dangerous, too worn, or only useful as part of a repair you are not doing.

A loose lithium cell

The flat end is negative, the button end is positive. Nominal voltage is about 3.6 to 3.7 volts. Full, for an ordinary cell, is 4.20 volts. Below about 2.5 volts for a long time, or any swelling, means it is for recycling, not for a project. Tape the ends so a bunch of them cannot short in a drawer.

Why it is in the trash while the parts are not

A dead pack, a dead gyro board, or water in the shell. The hub motors shrug at all of that.

Before you open it

Do this while it is still unplugged, cool, and not leaking. If the pack is swollen, punctured, or smells sweet, it goes outside and then to a recycler. Do not charge it to 'see'.

Lithium-ion cells

Where the dead machine usually is

Bulk trash day — Curb
Repair-shop scrap — Commercial
Garage and shed — In the house

Do not store a damaged pack in a hallway.

How it comes apart

Power connector off first. Hub motors unplug at a three-phase connector plus a hall plug. Do not cut those.

Tools: Hex keys, Meter, Tape.

What to take

The table is the short version. The notes under it describe that part inside this machine, not only the general description.

Parts in this donor
Part	Call	How many	How often	Where to look
Brushless DC motor	Prize	1–2	always	The wheels.
BLDC controller	Prize	1	usually	In the shell.
Cylindrical lithium-ion cell	Prize	a large pack	usually	The tray.
Battery management board	Worth pulling	1	usually	On the pack.
Hall sensor	Worth pulling	6	always	Inside each hub.
Switch-mode wall supply	Worth pulling	1	usually	The charger.
Microswitch	Bonus	2	usually	Brake levers.
Potentiometer	Bonus	1	sometimes	Thumb throttle.

Prize

Prize — take this firstBrushless DC motor1–2 · always
Sensored hub motors. Voltage is the pack voltage.
The wheels.
Unplug phase and hall. Label them.
Good.
Prize — take this firstBLDC controller1 · usually
Hoverboards: a dual ESC that expects the gyro board. Scooters: a single controller that expects a throttle.
In the shell.
Keep the connectors.
Water kills these.
Prize — take this firstCylindrical lithium-ion cella large pack · usually
Often 10S (36 V nominal) on hoverboards.
The tray.
Test groups. Recycle the pack if any cell is crushed.
One bad group, or worse.

Worth pulling

Worth pullingBattery management board1 · usually
Must match the series count.
On the pack.
Do not bypass it.
May be the fault.
Worth pullingHall sensor6 · always
Three halls per motor, on the small plug.
Inside each hub.
Do not cut the plug off.
Good.
Worth pullingSwitch-mode wall supply1 · usually
42 V class for a 36 V pack. The label is the spec.
The charger.
It is not a 12 V brick.
Good.

Bonus

Bonus, if you are already in thereMicroswitch2 · usually
Cutoff switches.
Brake levers.
Map them.
Good.
Bonus, if you are already in therePotentiometer1 · sometimes
A hall throttle is more common than a pot. See hall sensors.
Thumb throttle.
Keep it whole.
Good.